In Brief: Spain’s travel and tourism sector is forecast to exceed €269 billion in 2026, signaling significant opportunities and potential demand growth for hotel owners, operators, and investors in the Spanish market.
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Gloria Guevara, President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) – Image Credit WTTC
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) highlighted Spain’s continued tourism leadership during the VI Turespaña Convention, where WTTC President & CEO, Gloria Guevara, addressed tourism leaders from across the country on the opportunities and priorities shaping the future of Travel & Tourism.
According to WTTC’s latest Economic Impact Research, Spain’s Travel & Tourism sector is expected to contribute more than €269BN to the national economy in 2026, representing growth of 4.1%. The forecast has been revised upwards from WTTC’s previous projection of 3.7% and exceeds projected growth for Spain’s overall economy (2.7%), as well as Travel & Tourism growth across Europe (3.1%) and globally (2.5%).
International business travel is also expected to strengthen further, with international business visitor spending forecast to grow by 8.1% in 2026, reinforcing Spain’s position as an increasingly attractive destination for both leisure and corporate travellers.
Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “Spain has shown that when governments and the private sector work together behind a shared vision, Travel & Tourism can become a powerful driver of economic growth, investment and job creation. Under Minister Hereu’s leadership, Spain has continued to strengthen its position as one of the world’s leading tourism destinations while embracing the policies needed to ensure long-term competitiveness and sustainable growth.
We would also like to thank the Madrid City Council and the Regional Government of Madrid for their strong support in establishing WTTC’s global headquarters in Madrid, underscoring their commitment to attracting investment and fostering public-private collaboration.”
Earlier this month, WTTC presented Jordi Hereu, Spain’s Minister of Industry and Tourism, with the WTTC Global Champion Award during the organisation’s 26th Global Summit in Malta. The award recognised his leadership in strengthening Spain’s tourism competitiveness and his commitment to advancing collaboration between governments and the private sector to support sustainable Travel & Tourism growth.
Record Performance Reinforces Spain’s Tourism Leadership
The strong outlook builds on another record year for Spain. In 2025, Travel & Tourism contributed €259BN to the national economy, accounting for 15.3% of GDP, while supporting 3.2 million jobs, equivalent to one in every seven jobs across the country.
Spain also continues to dominate European tourism demand. International visitor spending reached a record €115.8BN in 2025, the highest in Europe, while international arrivals totalled 96.8 million visitors, making Spain the second most visited destination in the world.
The country accounts for 6.5% of all international visitor spending globally and 15.6% of international visitor spending across Europe. International visitor spending accounted for 58.7% of total tourism spending in Spain, highlighting the country’s strong global appeal. Spain also remains a leisure tourism powerhouse, generating €98.5BN in international leisure visitor spending.
Since the pandemic, Spain has delivered the strongest tourism recovery in Europe. International visitor spending in 2025 was 21% higher than in 2019, well above the European average (+2.3%), while Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP stood 19.9% above pre-pandemic levels, far surpassing the 6.5% growth recorded across Europe as a whole.
These results reinforce Spain’s position as one of the world’s most competitive and resilient Travel & Tourism economies and highlight the effectiveness of a long-term strategy built on investment, connectivity and strong public-private collaboration.
WTTC Outlines Priorities for Spain’s Continued Success
Beyond the strong economic outlook, WTTC identifies four priority areas to support Spain’s long-term competitiveness: sustainability, responsible destination management, innovation, and talent development.
WTTC highlights the importance of building consensus around the social, environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability, while advancing more balanced destination management through destination diversification, reduced seasonality, visitor dispersal and a continued focus on residents’ wellbeing.
The organisation also calls for greater support for digitalisation and AI adoption across the sector, alongside investment in workforce skills and training, particularly for SMEs, to ensure Travel & Tourism remains competitive in an increasingly fast-changing global environment.
At the European and global level, Guevara underlined WTTC’s eight strategic priorities identified jointly with its Members: seamless and secure travel, investment, connectivity, talent and workforce development, sustainable tourism, destination stewardship, AI adoption and source market diversification. She noted that these priorities are critical to maintaining the sector’s competitiveness and ensuring long-term sector growth.